Blake Lively tells Fabian Waintal about her latest film and her love of dressing up

You recently starred in Woody Allen’s new romantic comedy/drama Café Society, which opened the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Did you think you’d ever be on the red carpet in Cannes?No, I didn’t. You can have a career full of good movies and never end up in a film festival. It’s different to the events at the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, because, at Cannes, the movie is number one – everyone is there to see this art form and there’s a respect for it. It’s not about fashion and what someone is wearing, it’s about
the film.

Julia Roberts went barefoot on the Cannes red carpet this year, because last year the organisers turned away women who weren’t wearing heels. Can you believe that?Really? They should make men wear heels! But I like dressing up; it’s fun. I love being the most overdressed person in the room. Why not?

Did you read magazines while you were growing up to see what the stars were wearing?I read Martha Stewart magazines. I was very disappointed when they took ‘Dessert of the Month’ out – I always looked forward to that. I also loved People’s fashion. I liked watching award shows and seeing what people wore. What are these events for anyway? It’s just a celebration and everyone should dress up and have fun. It’s not this very serious life-or-death thing.

How much thought goes into what you wear?I don’t have a stylist, so it’s very personal. There’s a lot of thought, in that I’m the one who goes online and finds the clothes and then calls them in and tries them on. But I love that. That’s why I enjoy Old Hollywood style – because there is such beauty in the presentation. I think it’s nice to dress up.

Which directors would you like to work with?There are so many of them. I don’t even have a top-five list because I’m a bit shy about that – I have such awe for film-makers. Woody Allen would have been there, but I never thought I would get to make a movie with him.

How did it feel when you got that call for the part in Café Society?I auditioned for him, so I felt it was my work that he liked, not just hearing about me or seeing me in a magazine. And that felt really, really nice.

Was the movie a lot of pressure?There was a lot of pressure, but all that pressure comes from yourself and stories other people tell you. None of that pressure you feel comes from Woody. You meet Woody and you feel so humble and he says, ‘You can say this or you can say whatever you want, because this isn’t very good anyway.’ And it’s the one time you read a script and think, ‘I don’t want to change a word.’

Café Society is set in the glamorous Hollywood of the 1930s. How would you compare that era with today?
Back in the ’30s, the studios seemed a bit more dominating than they are now. They owned actors and film-makers. Today, I think it’s more the media that is invasive and challenging to deal with.

Is it hard to go to places such as Cannes as a tourist, because you are so well known?I lived here. I lived in Villefranche-sur-Mer, which is in-between Nice and Monaco, for two months.

Were you filming?No, I was going to school. I went to school to learn French, and I had never spoken a word of it. I wanted to have the experience of living in a French village. I decided to go, and I left home two days later. It was full immersion – I was not allowed to speak a word of English.